Convicted mobster’s family scores $6M in NJ Transit dispute

NEWARK, N.J. — The family of a convicted New Jersey mobster has received more than $6 million in a land dispute with New Jersey Transit.

A court filing shows the agency reached a settlement in August for $6.13 million.

The roughly 2-acre parcel near the Lincoln Tunnel, which connects New Jersey and New York, was to be part of a rail tunnel project under the Hudson River that Gov. Chris Christie canceled in 2010.

NJ Transit initially offered to pay the family of Carmine “Papa Smurf” Franco about $934,000 for the property, an industrial site that sits in parts of Weehawken, Hoboken and Union City in northern New Jersey, across the river from New York City. But the agency later revised the figure to $1.65 million.

The family went to court seeking more money, and in 2012 a jury awarded the family $8 million. An appeals court overturned that and ordered a new trial.

The settlement was first reported Tuesday by NJ.com. NJ Transit declined to comment.

Franco, a reputed Genovese crime family member, pleaded guilty to racketeering in connection with his involvement in a waste-hauling business and was sentenced to a year in prison in 2014.

The former Franco property still could be part of a rail tunnel project. The Gateway project, which includes a new tunnel into Penn Station in New York City, is expected to follow a similar path as the 2010 project.